A homeless mother of five told last night how she “had to nearly die” in order to get on an emergency housing list.

Ill Edel Dunne, 28, has been sleeping on the floor of her partner Gary’s parents’ house for the last 15 months.

The couple have a four week old baby girl, Mia, who also sleeps in the living room with them.

The couple’s eldest son Gary, seven, who has cerebral palsy and requires 24 hour assistance, shares a single bed with his five year old brother Jake.

“Now he (Gary) is sharing a single bed with his five-year-old brother and every night it’s a struggle trying to get them to sleep in such a small bed when they’re both kicking off each other,” she said.

Both Gary and Jake are attending primary school locally and their two and a half year old twin brothers Justin and John have started playschool.

Twelve people are currently living in the three bedroom house in Mulhuddart - and at the weekend this rises to 15 when her partner’s brother’s children visit.

The couple had been renting a flat but were forced to leave due to the poor condition of the property and a rogue landlord who refused repair work on the property.

“We were renting a two bed flat in Hartstown but there was mould on the walls and the heating wasn’t working.

The walls were black and the air vents were all blocked with newspapers.

There was rain coming through the windows, we couldn’t even put up Christmas decorations because of it.

“The landlord wouldn’t fix it and basically told us if we didn’t like it we could leave. My son started coughing all the time and ended up with asthma so we couldn’t stay there anymore, not with young kids,” she said.

According to homeless charity Focus Ireland there are 1,718 homeless families in the capital.

The Government say more than 90,000 people are currently on housing waiting lists nationwide.